Automatic plastic molding press



April 19, 1949. v. E. MEHARG ETAL AUTOMATIC PLASTIC MOLDING PRESS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 30, 1943 2+ w M m no m m Ii NRzo Emmi HHNMPHE E w N .vll. W 1 WWW mmm ml VAR 1 31 n In H r a H T 1 me r m m mm g 7 m m Q d m ,H J

ATTORNEY P 1949- v. E. MEHARG ETAL AUTOIATIC PLASTIC KOLDING PRESS w 2 EN 4 m m 0 m TRUO H N c EHZI t E N O M 6 MM .E P a d c o a T um I GHH mmm m VAR Filed Dec. 30, 1943 HIGH FREQUENCY GENERATUR ATTORNEY April 1949. v. E. MEHARG ETAL AUTOIATIC PLASTIC MOLDING PRESS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 30, 194;;

mvsNToRs MEHARG VERGIL E.

fi/ 7 7 a w u 9 R l r. M o H Um w LNfiG 0 m Em I IDGRT I nzm TLN W5 c Ea r smpw z LL Ofi J Jmwwm m FCAA ARTHUR P. MAZZUCCHELLI RICHARD E. NICOLSON ATTORNEY 1/? i TO HIGH FREQUENCY GENE R1709 Patented Apr. 19, 1949 AUTOMATIC PLASTIC MOLDING PRESS Virgil E. Meharg, Arthur P. Mazzucchelli, and Richard E. Nicolson, Bloomfield, N. J assignors to Bakelite Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Application December 30, 1943, Serial No. 516,168

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to apparatus for mold ing plastic materials involving heating to bring to a moldable plasticity.

Heat-molded plastics are of two types (1) thermosetting which become infusible or harden by heating during the molding operations, and (2) thermoplastic which require cooling oi the mold for solidification. The first type presents the problem of avoiding objectionable curing or setting of the plastic to the infuslble non-flowing condition during a preliminary heating by conduction, as in an oven, to molding temperature before charging into a mold; and the second type, with few exceptions, cannot be brought to molding temperature by conduction heating without objectionable breakdown and discoloration. Common to both types, moreover, is the further problem of charging the heated material into a mold without objectionable changes occurring in the material and without loss in plastic flow and moldability.

According to the present invention both types can be successfully handled to yield molded pieces having satisfactory surface appearance, strength, etc; it provides, furthermore, a type of heating that brings the second or thermoplastic type. requiring cooling in the mold to set the plastic. within a molding time cycle approaching that 01' thermosetting plastics. These results are dependent upon (1) generating heat within the charge preliminary to molding by applying a. high frequency electrostatic field, (2) transferring a so-heated charge to the mold, (3) closing the mold and applying pressure, (4) holding the charge in the mold (a) in the case of thermosetting plastics under heat and pressure until the plastic is set, and (b) in the case of thermoplastics under pressure in a cooled mold until set, and (5) opening the mold and ejecting the molded piece. By the inclusion of the preliminary heat generation the molding time cycle can be greatly accelerated by the generation of heat in one or more additional charges during the molding of the first charge; and this'is made possible because the period for bringing to molding temperatre by a high frequency field can be synchronized with the molding time.

The rate at which the heat is generated, or the rate at which the temperature rises, iscontrolled by the power input; suitable frequencies for this purpose range from 1 to 100 megacycles, and the power input lies in the region between 0.6 to 50.0 watts per gram of material. The field is most readily applied to a molding charge by preforming a charge into a flat disc and placing the preform between two conductive plates connected by leads to a high frequency generator. It is advisable to surround the preform by a, ring of low dielectric loss material, such as glass, ceramics, lead-bonded mica, mica filler bonded by phenol-formaldehyde resin, etc., to confine the generated heating to the preform and not include the surrounding air. It is sometimes desirable, however, to have an enclosing medium that is not a good dielectric, since the heat generated therein can be retained for subsequent heating operations, and thus the medium acts to compensate for differences in the surface heating or for loss of heat to the contacting air.

The above recited steps occur in the sequence given, and some of them, such as steps (3) and (5), can be manually performed. It has been found, however, that so much improvement can be attained in speed and uniformity of results by an automatic cyclic operation as to radically change the process and open it to molding speeds not attainable by manually-operated steps. This is due to the fact that a relation exists between the temperature to which a charge is brought and the allowable holding time; the relation between temperature and holding time can be expressed by the equation:

T=k log ct where T is the temperature, t is the maximum permissible holding time and k and c are constants. The importance of the relation rests on the fact that costs can be materially reduced by cutting the molding time, and the higher the temperature to which a charge is brought the less is the molding time period. For instance, a typical thermosetting material at C. was held at that temperature for 50 seconds, at C. for 31 seconds and at C. for 19.5 seconds before it lost its flow (or, in other words, began to set); but at C. the period was cut to 12.5 seconds or to one-fourth that at 140 C. Within a period of only 12.5 econds, however, it is not practically feasible to manually transfer a heated charge to a mold, close the mold and apply pressure to cause plastic flow with complete fllling of the mold before setting, for slight variations in the timing of these operations show up in the molded pieces in the way of precuring, surface apearance, non-uniformity, etc. But automatic control permits even faster molding cycles than these with consequent saving in costs.

An automatic operation further can be modilied to provide an overlapping of complete heating and molding cycles to care for the different speeds at which diil'erent plastics or diflerent 9,407,440 3 4 batches oi the same type plastic harden, or for ber of overlapping cycles a greater reduction in the kinds molding dies used, or for the charmolding time is obtainable as shown by the folacter and distance of iiow of a mold, or for moldlowing:

ing pressures applied, or for other modifying tac- 1' 1, 1

tors. Moreover, it is the die and press assembly. 5

changed for each kind oi molded article. that s 0 m c m 0 ch constitutes the principal item of cost in a molded A l! 0 i) ll piece; and a iurther reduction in this item is obtained by the overlapping of the cycles because l more molded pieces can be produced within a given time. Possibilities in this direction by the overlapping of cycles are disclosed by the following tables in which the simultaneously overlapping portions 01' a plurality of cycles are given as applied to a thermosetting material.

In Table I there is shown the overlapp s oi two complete cycles, the material of cycle B being brought to temperature while that 0! cycle The arrangement gives a total heating period to any one charge 01' 34 seconds and a molding period or 0 seconds; but a charge is molded every Ais transferre and molded- 9 seconds in the same mold.

Table I Even taster cycles are possible in correspondonce to the decrease in plastic flow required; the sup cycle A B technic applies particularly to simple shapes that require a slight flow. What is more, it has been found by operating at high speed cycles that temperatures above decomposition temperatures enable a further decrease in the molding or ouring time to approach that of a hot-stamping operation, and this with but one heating stage. A wholly unexpected eflect is an actual increase in By the verlapping or two cycles a complete heatthe torque strength in articles molded under ing and molding cycle is reduced from 65 secthese conditions. and this property is particularly ends to seconds. important in bottle caps and similar closures.

The overlapping 01 more than two cycles to Dita m comparative m in pp rt of the secure a further reduction in time is made po 35 foregoing statements are noted in the following sibie by providing more than one heat-gener t- Table IV. The tests were made with two diilerent ing stage or by extending the high frequency field WW 0! thermofiettml d g ia s on a 28 area so as to create heat in more than one charge bottle closure m ld r q r nl a ch rge of during a cycle, as shown in the following; 10 grams. The iirst material was one containing about equal parts of wood flour filler and a two-step resin that consists of a novolak phenol-- formaldehyde resin and enough hexamethylenetetramine to harden it and had a relatively slow set time of 100 seconds at 300 F. and 1000 pounds per square inch. The second material used was one containing about equal parts 0! wood flour filler and equal parts of a one-step alkali-catalyzed phenolic resin; the resin had a relatively last set time of seconds at 300 1". and at 1000 pounds per square inch pressure. Tests made in accordance with the usual pro- According to this arrangement the heat-generat- (mdure oi charging a cold preform into a mold ing period for any one charge is increased to 35 and subjecting to heat and pressure are labeled se onds y th two stas s of h atin f r 10 sec- "standard in the table, and tests with a prelimionds and then for 25 seconds, with corresponding 55 nary hiah frequency heating to molding temperincrease in molding temperature and a decrease ature are labeled "3. 1"." with the time period of Total 25 25 10 w in the molding time to 25 seconds. preliminary heating; the closing time is the In fact with an automatic control the steps can length oi time required for the mold to close unbe timed so that a thermosetting material is adder the applied pressure, 1. e. for fusion and flow vanced by heating to the point where it just reon of the molding material in the mold, and the cure tains the flow necessary to completely ill] the is the minimum time required for setting to the mold. For example, with an increase in the numiniusible iorm.

Table IV Pro-use, Molding T., Closing, Cure, To as mm Mam p. I. i. '2. sec. sec. inehh.

I2, SI) 5 50 i6 ,2, can 1 I 71 23, M 410-43! 3 22, M 1m l 7 7'5 26, 000 410-4 l 3-5 22, out 5 as 22, cos i so 51 2!. III! 410-43) 4 45 63 22, M IO-l3) 1 10 I7 (375-500 F.) can be used for molding which.

In explanation of the cure or test 3 using decomposition temperatures, a series of curing times ranging from seconds to 60 seconds were tried. but all the caps blistered due either to undercure or decomposition; as shown by tests 4 and 5 the H. F. method was eflective at the high or decomposition temperatures to yield satisfactory molded pieces with no material drop in the torque strength. A surprising result, however, is that the slow-setting material gave pieces oi much higher torque value by the H. F. method than by the standard, but the fast-setting material gave pieces by the H. F. method of much less torque value than by the standard; in the latter case there was, however, an improvement in torque value of pieces molded by the H. F. method at high temperature, and a marked drop in value in pieces molded by the standard method at high temperatures. A further surprising fact was that the slow-setting material by the H. F. method had a permissible minimum cure of 3-5 seconds, while the fast-setting material had a minimum cure oi seconds at high temperatures.

Particularly effective is the application of the H. F. method to the molding of urea resin molding compositions of any thickness. These materials are very heat-sensitive, and the temperature range between undercure and overcure is but a few degrees; accordingly they are limited by the standard method to relatively thin pieces of uniform wall thickness in the neighborhood of about inch. This was demonstrated by the molding of 4 inch discs oi uniform inch thickness; by the standard method at 2,700 p. s, i. a minute cure at 290 F. or a 3 minute cure at 310 F. gave undercured and blistered pieces, and a 5 minute cure at 310 F. gave a piece that was badly decomposed and overcured on the surface; by applying H. F. heating to the preform for 50 seconds to raise it to 310 F. and then molding at that temperature and the same pressure of 2,700 p. s. i. for 75 seconds a molded disc was obtained free from blisters, internal undercure or surface overcure. This disc has aged for one year and is still free from cracks and internal opalescence.

A situation, parallel to thermosetting materials, exists with regard to thermoplastic materials with the exception that the molding time is controlled by the speed at which the material can be hardened by cooling in the mold. Here again any one charge can be passed through one or more heat-generating stages over a time period permitted by the material before breakdown or discoloration occurs in order to reach the temperature for flow to fill the mold under the applied pressure. The hardening can be accelerated by maintaining the mold at a low temperature that Just permits filling and then causes hardening.

An apparatus for carrying out the foregoin process is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is an elevation of an apparatus incorporating mechanism for the four stages of (a) loading, (b) heating, (c) transferring, and (d) molding;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross-section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective showing the mechanism {or the loading and heating stages;

Fig. 4 is a top view of the feed plates and a tached mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the loading board carriage;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical cross-section on shown in Fig. 1.

The embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 to 7 inclusive incorporates a molding press P, a loading mechanism L, and, interposed between the press and the loading mechanism, a heat-generating arrangement H to which is connected a high frequency generator G; connecting the stations L, H and P is a transferring mechanism T. The press P is a standard form of an hydraulically operated press; g nd as shown it includes a ten cavity steam-cored disc mold consisting of a chase Ill and a plunger or force 2|. The heat-generating element I-I consists of spaced electrostatic plates 23, 24 connected by leads 2S and 2G to the generator G; the lead 28 is also connected to ground 21, to the press P and to the loading mechanism L by the conductors 28, 29. The loader L comprises charging tubes for filling with preforms and feed plates 31, shown in open position in Figs. 2. 3 and 4, which slide on a sealing plate I2. The transfer mechanism T includes a loading carriage a, which travels underneath the sealing plate 32 at one end of its Journey, and tracks 35 on which the loading carriage travels back and forth between the loader L and the press P; the carriage is operated by a motor 36 through the continuous cable 31. The elements are supported on a frame 34.

The feed plates 3| of the loader L are normally separated by weights 40 on the ends of cables ll operating over pulleys 42 and attached to the feed plates 31 which have in them through cavities 38; and in the separated position of the 0 plates (Fig. 2) the cavities 38 are in position under the charging tubes 30 to receive preforms or charges. when the loading carriage 33 is being drawn by the cable 31 into position below the sealing plate 32, determined by contact with a switch Ii that acts as a stop, it strikes a bar 43 (Fig. 4) connected by cables 44 running over pulleys l5 and attached to the feed plates 3i; by this means the loading carriage serves to close the feed plates as it moves beneath the sealing plate 32 as shown in Fig. 3 (which also shows the carriage in a second position between the electrodes). In the sealing plate 32 are through cavities 46 (Fig. 2) in position to receive the preforms from cavities 38 in the closed feed plates; cavities 46 are also in vertical alignment with cavities 4'! in the loading carriage 33, when the latter is in receiving position, so that the preforms pass through the openings 46 into the cavities 1.

The loading carriage 33 is shown in greater detail in Figs. 5, 6 and 'l and in position over the electrode or condenser plate 24. The carriage consists of a metal base plate 50 on which is supported a non-metallic board 5! having therein the cavities 41. The {it is held against a. flange I! on the metal bafs'plate 50 by springs 53 and the flange 52 has projecting ends 54 to which the springs 53 are attached; in this position of the board 5| the bottoms of the cavities 41 are closed by the plate 50. The board 5| is made of lowloss insulating material, and its thickness is such that when the cavities 41 are loaded with preforms, the preforms extend somewhat above the board; the cavities 41 are of a diameter sufficiently larger than that of thepreiorms to permit the slight swelling that occurs when heat is generated 7 in them between the condenser plates, and the board itself becomes heated to some extent which prevents chilling oi the preiorm surfaces while confining the heating to the prelorms. The cable 31 which moves the loading carriage back and i forth is attached to the board ii and not to the plate tli. Mounted on the press (shown in Figs. 1 and 2) are vertical projecting pins 65 in position to engage the extensions M with the result that, when the loading carriage is drawn over the chase 20 of the mold, the plate BI is stopped and the board it slides over the plate Ill; this action results in bringing the cavities 41 over openings 58 in the plate ll. Further movement of the board II over the plate 50 is checked by a switch I! (shown in Fig. 2). In these relative positions the base plate SI and the board 5!, the openings It are in alignment with the mold cavities in the chase 20, and the result is the preforms drop into the chase.

When the base plate 5| is in position between the electrodes 28 and 14, it is kept in electrical contact with the electrode 24 by means of a riding ground consisting of metal wheels ill supported on the electrode 24 by bearings Bl pressed by springs $2 in cavities 63 in the electrode 24. This detail is shown in Fig. 7; the conductive metal base plate SI thus becomes a surfacing element oi the electrode 24 for confining the electrostatic ileld.

The diagram of Fig. 8 shows the controls and connecting circuits for the automatic operation of the apparatus. Switches ii and 12 are similar single pole, single throw switches electrically connected so that closing either switch opens theother; these switches are mounted at each end of the travel of the carriage 33 as shown in Fig. 2 and the switches serve as stops for the carrier at each end. The operation is accomplished through a circuit including relays II, ll; thearmatures Hi, I. of relays 13. II are shown for simplicity as extensions of the switch arms H and i2, and these armatures oscillate between contacts Ill, 82 and contacts II, II. when the switch arm I! is thrown to bring the armature I6 into connection with the contact 84 there is a closed circuit from a power lead 85 through a double pole switch II to conductors l1, ll, the armature N, the contact 8| and to the motor 36, with a return from the motor through a cir- 'cuit including conductors l8, 90, Si to the other pole of the switch a and to the power lead 92; there is also a branch circuit through line 88, armature 15, contact 82, conductor 8!, relay II and connection II to conductor ll to energize the relay I4 and hold the armature 18 to the contact ll. When the other switch H is thrown, the circuit is established through the armature It, the contact II and a conductor M to the motor, whereby the rotation oi the motor is reversed, and with a branch circuit through the conductor 88, the armature 1|, contact ll, a wire 1!, the relay l3 and the return II to the lead 02 to hold the armature to the contact 8|. The motor 38 operating the carriage is a slow-speed motor (I00 R. P. M.l,and with suchamotor speed coupled with the delay due to the inertia of the moving parts, it has been found that there is ample time provision at the reversing stations for the loading and unloading of the carriage; time-delay relays, however, can be inserted in the lines to the motor or a magnetic brake can be applied to the motor to regulate the period of delay if found desirable or necessary.

8 circuit through contact II to the motor, the carrier 33 starts on its travel toward the molding press. On its way it throws a switch "I as it comes into position between the heating electrodes; this breaks the contact with a terminal I02 and closes contact with another terminal ill; the contact ill! connected through a line ill to line 9| and power lead 52, thereby breaking a circuit through a line Hi4 and about a relay ill to release an armature Hit and break contact I61 with the line 90 returning to the power lead this stops the motor and leaves the carrier in position for heating the preiorms. At the same time the closing of a circuit through contact I03 energizes a timer lill, which is a multiple timing unit, through conductors Ill, H2 to the line III and power lead '5. The timer after a predetermined delay operates a relay H3 to attract armature Ill against contact H5 and so close the circuit through line I to operate irelay ill! and start the motor and the carrier on its travel to the press. During the delay at the heating station, the timer III has operated a relay lit closing a circuit Ill through armature Ill and contact ill and starting the high frequency generator G; alter a predetermined time the timer stops energizing the relay iii and shuts on the generator. There are also connections from the timer to the press valves which are set to open the press, and then close the press after the loading board has traveled to the press, released the preforms into the chase and started on its return through the operation of the switch 12. In its return travel the switch "llll is thrown to contact ill for a repetition of Btopand Start KP. Open Start Close Timer Heat Wm Press Motor Press Timer 0 I ll) 52 3 i l l 5 l Upon the starting of the motor and during the interval of closing the press, the carriage moves to the loader to receive a fresh charge and returns to the heating station where it stops the motor and resets the timer. During the wait at the heating station the charge in the mold is molded and discharged. The total time for the above cycle is 73 seconds.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for the molding of a heat-moldable plastic material having in combination a loader for the material, a press for molding the material, heating means intermediate the loader and the press, a carrier including a board of low loss dielectric material for receiving a charge from the loader and for traversing the heating means and for delivering the charge to the press, and mechanism for causing the traverse of the carrier, said heating means comprising spaced electrodes for establishing a high frequency electrostatic field through which the carrier traverses to bring the charge on the carrier to molding temperature with substantial uniformity within When the switch II is operated to close the *7 its mass, said carrier providing an electrically- QAO'LMO conductive element for functioning as an electrode for the heating means.

2. Apparatus for the molding of heat-moldable plastic material comprising in combination a loader, a molding press, heating means including spaced electrodes for a high frequency electrostatic field and intermediate the loader and the prezs, a carrier traversing between the loader and the press and through the field, a circuit including a motor, mechanism connecting the motor and the carrier for causing the traversing movement of the latter, means operable by the carrier for releasing a charge of plastic from the loader to the carrier, a switch at the loader end of the carrier traverse and in the motor circuit for contact by the carrier to close the motor circuit, a second switch and a timer in circuit therewith, said second switch being mounted in the path of the carrier and thrown by the latter when in the electrostatic field for breaking the motor circuit and for setting the timer, said timer operating to again close the motor circuit after a predetermined relay and to continue the carrier traverse into position for '.unloading the charge from the carrier to the press, and a third switch at the press for contact by the carrier and in circuit with the motor for reversing the motor and the traverse of the carrier back to the leader, the carrier serving to reset the second switch on its return movement. a

3. Apparatus for the molding of heat-moldable plastic material comprising in combination a loader, a molding )IQSS having a mold cavity therein, heating means including spaced electrodes for a high frequency electrostatic field and intermediate the loader and the press, a carrier comprising a board of low loss insulating material having a charge-receiving cavity and traversing between the loader and the press and through the space between the electrodes, a circuit including a motor, mechanism connecting the motor and the carrier for causing the traversing movement of the latter, means operable by the carrier for releasing a charge of plastic from the loader to the carrier, means operable by the carrier for controlling the motor circuit and the traverse of the carrier from the loader 10 between the spaced electrodes and to the press for unloading of the charge and a stop associated with the press for enga in the carrier to release the charge into the mold cavity.

4. In an apparatus for molding a heat-moldable plastic including a molding press, heating means. and a conveyor for transferring a charge from the heating means to the press, said heating means comprising in combination a pair of spaced electrodes for creating an electrostatic field through which the conveyor passes, and a high frequency source of energy connected to the electrodes, said conveyor comprising in combination a base plate and a board of low loss insulating material provided with a charge-receiving through-cavity and mounted on said plate for closing the cavity, said plate being electrically conductive to function as an electrode for the heating means.

VIRGIL E. MEHARG. ARTHUR P. MAZZUCCHEILI. RICHARD E. NICOLSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Molding with Radio Frequency, by Witty, from Modern Plastics, May 1943.

Certificate of Correction Potent No. 2,467,440. April 19, 1940.

VIBGIL E. MEHARG ET AL. It is hereby certified that errors appear in the printed specification of the above numbered potent requiring correction as follows: v

Column 2, line 42, for "econde read seconds; line 49, for open-once" reed appearance; column 9, lme 23, claim 2, for the word reloy" read delay; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Oflice.

Signed and sealed this 15th day of November, A. D. 1949.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

ushland" oflm 

